2016 SK102

This past weekend was the 18^th annual Chesapeake Paddlers Association SK102 kayak symposium. I have written about this event before and so I’ll provide only highlights.

I got on the road a little after 10AM on Friday. As I merged onto the Beltway I noticed a familiar site out of the corner of my eye. I was driving next to the coordinator of the club, easily recognizable in the “big white truck” with two kayaks on the roof. We continued in parallel for a while until I got off at Springfield for a grocery stop. Friday was the tail end of Passover, a period when Jews are not supposed to eat “leavened” items – which includes pretty much all breads, cakes, pasta, and breakfast cereal as well as beer. This had added a little challenge to provisioning food for the trip, as I didn’t have much around the house in terms of fresh bread, and so at the supermarket I loaded up with bread, muffins and granola to enjoy over the weekend once I could eat them again. I arrived at Lake Anna at around lunchtime and set to work making camp. The ground was too wet to allow driving down to the camping area and setting up involved a lot of schlepping between the parking area and the camping area. I set up in my usual spot, near where Suzanne, Susan G. and Marilyn were camping. We were soon joined by Dave I. and “Coughing Bob”. I call him that because he coughed all night – which I could easily hear from my tent. Suzanne brought her enormous rain tarp, which she was insistent on setting up. This took a ridiculously long time, but wound up being valuable later when the rains came (as they inevitably do at SK102).

The big tarp - my tent is the yellow one

Memorable quote #1: a woman named Nancy came over to our campsite to introduce herself. It was her first time at SK102. When Susan introduced herself Nancy said, “Oh, we’ve met before. I remember you because I recognize your teeth. I’m in the dental profession and I notice people’s mouths.”

Friday night’s activities include an instructors’ potluck (my contribution was hummus – home made by Ted!), the instructors’ coordination meeting, and a night paddle. For the first time I opted to skip the night paddle. A bunch of us who didn’t go paddling gathered under the enormous tarp. We were having a good conversation, until we were joined by one of the other instructors who seems to be unable to talk about anything but kayaking. Suddenly the conversation became a lecture on handling tides and currents when kayaking and a discourse on why contact tow lines should always, always include a quick release mechanism. I wasn’t really in the mood for a skills lecture and so I got up and took a little walk. When I got back they were all gone – all that was left behind was Reggie’s potato chips. I didn’t know where they had gone (just up the hill to another campsite, it turned out) and so I retired to my tent.

Here’s an example of electronics have changed camping. Years ago, tent time mean reading a book by flashlight. Some years ago I started bringing my iPad. This allowed me to read books without needing a flashlight, and also opened the door to other activities – including writing blog entries. Well, this weekend for the first time I used my phone as a WiFi hotspot and streamed Netflix. 

I slept well and awakened Saturday AM refreshed. One of the great SK102 innovations a few years ago was group coffee. Sue S. gets up at 4 AM to put up a bunch of coffee urns. This eliminates the need and time needed for 150 people to individually fire up their camp stoves in the morning and also provides a nice early morning gathering point by the water. I filled my first mug of coffee and returned to the campsite where I ate a breakfast of yogurt and, since it was no longer Passover, a bran muffin, which tasted really good!

The Morning Briefing on Saturday

Saturday morning I taught the basic introductory class with Suzanne. This class is partially on land, and the water part consists of basic strokes and teaching people to wet exit. The latter activity – learning how to get out of your kayak if you capsize, if a point of anxiety for a lot of students. We had a gung-ho bunch this time – no real hesitation in doing the wet exit. Everyone succeeded, no one drowned.

Last year’s SK102 featured miserable weather – drenching rains and cold temps. My dry suit leaked while I was demonstrating rescues in the morning, getting me all wet. I spent lunchtime in my sleeping bag warming up. This year the weather was better and my dry suit’s new gaskets worked as intended.  It was cool enough that I kept my dry suit on through lunch, but not at all unpleasant. My lunch was composed of a collection of leftovers and quick items – hummus, tuna, carrots, berries.

In the afternoon I taught basic rescues and towing with Greg H. Greg is one of those guys who has been around the kayaking scene a long time. I’ve heard his name, but I didn’t really know him except by his reputation as a very skilled paddler. He turned out to be a good teacher and up on the latest orthodoxy (for example, the “T rescue” has changed a little bit in that you no longer have the victim help you empty and right his/her boat). Our class was small – only four students, including a woman on a sit-on-top and a guy who said he was too tired to get in the water. Rescue training is all about getting into and out of the water, and is focused on sit-in kayaks and so these two – half our class - posed a bit of a problem. We made the best of it. The not-into-the-water guy was willing to be the rescuer, and it was interesting to try having a sit-on-top kayaker rescue other kayakers. Towards the end of the class we taught some basic towing during which Greg explained why in his opinion contact towing lines should never, never have quick release mechanisms. Greg was intent on teaching the whole syllabus which meant we were the last group off the water.

The time after classes on Saturday is usually a nice relaxing time – try out some other kayaks, mess around on the lake, or perhaps take a nap. As I mentioned, my group finished late and then, due to a mixup, some of us had to run and move our cars. By the time I finished all and got changed the free time was about used up and it was time for Dubside’s rolling demo, which was better than ever. He’s added a new roll for the finale (combining the brick and lit candle tricks he previously demo’d) and has really improved the patter that goes with the demo. Fun as always. From there it was straight into the big group cookout. Again, this is usually a slow-paced time, but as the “Musical Director” of the Chesapeake Pickers Association (the volunteer band) I still had work to do. I ate quickly and began hauling music gear down to the waterfront.

This year’s band was just a trio – me, with Paul C. on guitar and Moulton on bongos. We played for about 90 minutes, interrupted by a tribute to Bill Dodge, a long-time area kayaker and club member who passed away recently. When your set is interrupted by a memorial service it’s a little hard to pick up again – how do you segue back to light-hearted entertainment? Fortunately Paul had brought an old (published in 1961!) book of Pete Seeger songs, from which we selected “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore”. The song is actually an old spiritual and the lyrics about crossing the River Jordan seemed appropriate. In all we played for almost 90 minutes and even had people up and dancing!

Making Music

Memorable Quote #2: Paul C. and I were standing around the campfire later in the evening after we got all the equipment packed away. It was dark and so hard to see who was around. Suddenly I heard someone - who clearly didn't realize I was within earshot - mention my name. One of the people sitting by the campfire was saying, “That guy Jesse? He was one of my instructors this morning. I didn’t know he also played piano. He’s really good!” Poor Paul – the unnoticed Picker. He deserves recognition too. The problem is he plays very softly. He needs to learn to turn up the volume! Anyway, I'm as much of a sucker for compliments as anyone, so I went to sleep Saturday night happy.

Sunday dawned cool and rainy, as is typical of SK102. As usual, this caused a lot of people to just pack up and go home. I felt that urge myself. It’s funny: I spent all of Saturday getting wet jumping into the lake, but Sunday I woke and said, “Ick! It’s wet out!” I think it’s something about camping in the rain. I packed everything in the tent up before even getting out of my tent, intent on leaving as quickly as possible; however, once I went down to the waterfront for my coffee and started socializing, I slowed down and got out of hurry mode. As we huddled under the pop-up shelter Woody started a spirited argument about whether government should actively encourage and discourage behavior (this started with talking about smoking and cigarette taxes). Woody is a lawyer and a former Navy Seal – he likes to argue and he likes to win. Slowly, the other people under the tent melted away – not many people, not even several other attorneys – really wanted to be part of a bloody political debate at 6:30 AM (BTW, Woody was on the side of keeping the stupid meddlesome gummint bureaucrats out of people’s business). Some of us, having retreated from the waterfront, reconvened back under Suzanne’s tarp where we lingered over breakfast, waiting for a break in the rain. The more dedicated folks went on with their Sunday classes, both on and off the water. When the rain let up I packed my soggy belongings into the car and headed for home mid-morning having had, as always, a good time.

Watching Dubside's Rolling Demo

Unfortunately a number of regulars didn’t make it this year: Tall Tom, Rob P., Jim Z., Yvonne, etc. Bela was there – it was good to catch up with him. The guy who didn’t want to get into the water Saturday turned out to be a really nice guy. And a neighbor of mine – a “McKinley mom” we know from our kids’ elementary school days – was there! Unfortunately she wasn’t able to stay over Saturday night due to family obligations. She would have been an asset  on vocals to the Pickers.